The present invention relates in general to radiant energy imaging and more particularly concerns novel apparatus and techniques for producing a two-dimensional image of the X-ray response of a scanned region of a patient. The invention is characterized by high contrast, low radiation scattering, and other features desirable in a diagnostic imaging system.
This invention is an improvement of the commercially available American Science and Engineering MICRO-DOSE.RTM. system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,291, which has a moving pencil beam of X-rays that repeatedly scans the entire length of one detector as the target body translates past the scanning beam and detector assembly.
It is an important object of this invention to provide an improved radiant energy imaging system for diagnostic purposes.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a system with relatively high efficiency and relatively low radiation scattering.
It is another object of the invention to achieve one or more of the preceding objects with a system that produces high-quality, high-contrast images.
A further object of the invention is to provide signals compatible with a digital computer display so that each pixel of the image may be conveniently exhibited with enhanced contrast by the physician or other user.
It is another object of the invention to achieve one or more of the preceding objects with a system in which sensitivity variations between detectors will not materially affect the quality of the image.